It is an absolute privilege to step into the role of Director for Team 91 Rockies. Growing up on Long Island, New York, I was fortunate to be immersed in a lacrosse hotbed. I played at Cold Spring Harbor and St. Anthony’s High School before going on to play Division I at St. John's University. In an area like New York, all the opportunities I could have ever wanted, or worked hard for, were essentially at my fingertips. If I put in the effort, the nearest elite club programs or training facilities were less than a 45 minute drive away.

 

About 12 years ago, I moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in Colorado, and for ten of those years, I have proudly served as the head coach for the Aspen High School boys' lacrosse team, as well as an assistant coach with the Dutch National Team in the Netherlands for the last four years. When I first took over the Aspen program, I had many conversations about how competing against Front Range or out of state teams would always be a challenge for athletes in the mountains. This did not make any sense to me, as I would look around and see some of the most athletic and driven kids in our country on the field in front of me. What I started to realize was that the reason we may not have been as skilled as some of the other hotbed areas was only due to the fact that our athletes simply did not have the same opportunities to grow and develop as those places. And I made it my mission to change that.

 

As we all know, consistency is key. Keeping the stick in your hands year round is paramount. So naturally, one of the first questions I asked myself was, "Where do the athletes train in the offseason or winter?" The answer was that they didn't. While there were a few sporadic basketball gyms throughout the mountains where kids could throw a ball around, there was no true home for consistent athletic training. After a few years of planning, I opened the Elite Performance Academy in the Roaring Fork Valley to give athletes the opportunity to train year round on indoor turf. Over the last six years, EPA has served as a home for athletes looking to take their game to the next level through indoor turf work, consistent year round reps, strength training, and IQ sessions. Building EPA solved that first major hurdle, proving that our mountain athletes were never lacking drive; they were simply lacking access. Once given the platform, our kids showed up hungry to put in the work.

 

Through my time with EPA, I realized there was still one missing link. EPA gave our athletes a home for year round development, but our geography still kept us isolated from the broader lacrosse landscape. To reach your full potential, you have to consistently compete with and against the best. Being in the mountains shouldn't mean our athletes are relegated to a smaller stage or given anything less than top tier opportunities. We needed to bridge that gap by attaching to something bigger, a national program that puts our players on equal footing with the biggest hotbeds in the country. That is where Team 91 Rockies was born.

 

Over the years, I have watched deeply committed mountain athletes leave school early on a Wednesday to drive six hours in a day just to attend a Team 91 practice in Denver. Their only goal was to become the best versions of themselves, and they chose the right program to do that, but they spent more time in the car than on the field. I have heard stories of some of our best athletes getting burned out from playing competitively, not because they didn't love the sport or team, but because the format that works in major areas does not fit our geography. I am the first to preach that sacrifice is part of success, but trying to fit a square peg into a round hole is simply unsustainable for mountain families. As a result, many are forced to either move to or settle for local options that, while filling a need, do not offer the highest level of development or the chance to play alongside the absolute best athletes from across the entire Rocky Mountain region. In my work with the Dutch National Team, I see the exact same challenge on an international scale. This idea of geography limiting athletic development is not new, but it is something we can solve. I knew we needed to create a club program that suited our unique geography while delivering the exact same level of elite training, development, and exposure that a major hotbed program affords.

 

Today, I am proud to announce that we are holding tryouts for Team 91 Rockies. After years of thought, I realized that for this to truly work, and to give our most dedicated players the competitive environment they deserve, we couldn't just launch another localized team. We needed to be attached to a major program that funnels athletes into greater opportunities. Being a part of Team 91 means our players will have access to regional and national level programs, along with robust recruiting support for those who want to play at the collegiate level, rather than being confined to a team that starts and finishes within its own geographical footprint.

 

To solve the geographical challenges of the mountains, we are shifting away from the traditional model of 90 minute practices on Wednesday and Sunday nights. Instead, Team 91 Rockies will operate on a Training Camp Model. We will host centralized weekend training camps throughout the summer, where athletes will be on the field together for 4 to 5 hours at a time. While it may seem different at face value, this equates to the same amount of physical field time as weekly practices, while providing families the ability to actually plan their lives. More importantly, getting the team together for extended blocks of time allows us to dive deeper. Any experienced coach will tell you that the longer a group stays together, the more they can accomplish. This model gives us the time to truly develop fundamentally and elevate our lacrosse IQ as a cohesive unit. To build that high level understanding, we will also film our tournament games and conduct dedicated film review sessions, giving players the single best tool to understand team concepts and grow both individually and collectively.

 

For years, the perception has been that lacrosse west of the Front Range had to take a back seat. I have never accepted that standard because our athletes have always possessed the work ethic, athleticism, and drive to compete with anyone in the country. By combining our regional talent with a training camp model designed for mountain families, a proven national pipeline, and an uncompromising standard of development, we are fundamentally shifting that narrative. Team 91 Rockies is built for the players and families who are ready to fully commit to their growth and compete at the highest level. I am honored to bring this vision to life across the Rocky Mountain region, and I look forward to helping our athletes reach potential they once thought was out of reach.

 

See you on the field,

Tommy Cox

Director, Team 91 Rockies